My article talked about the “perfect storm” in terms of what the auto-industry was experiencing in the credit markets, but that is probably more apropos of what is going on in the economy as a whole.  Housing is suffering, retail, including auto, is suffering, and jobs are being eliminated at an alarming rate.  Most troubling – these are not short term problems and even with a new president these aren’t going to be resolved over night.

First a little history, the phrase “perfect storm” originated with the 1997 book The Perfect Storm, and was cemented into most minds by the 2000 movie of the same title which starred George Clooney.  The phrase the perfect storm refers to the simultaneous occurence of events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the resulting combination of events.  Such occurrences are rare by their very nature, and any slight change in any one event would potentially lessen its overall impact.